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Why don't you drive to a Metro North station, take it to GCT, then the 7 train. Or you can get the LIRR at Penn, and it is just 2 stops to Citi Field (game days only POrt Washington line).

Congrats on Scherzer's gem tonight, btw.

Half the time on the weekends they are doing work on the 7 anyways, so it gets truncated at Queensboro plaza, and then I have take a roundabout route to QBP, but there's no express on the weekends either

What I've been doing for a lot of weekend games: Drive into Queens, and park at a Port Washington line station (since most stations have free parking on the weekends) and then take the LIRR right to Citi Field. Assume I don't hit much traffic I actually think that's FASTER then Metro North to 7 since I'm one of the more northern stops on the New Haven line. Back in April I think I got from Port Washington train station to my house in about 90 minutes which is more time then the Metro North train would've taken, and of course the LIRR to Port Wash is quicker then the 7 to GCT

There are some years where 83-79 is good enough to win the division: 05 NL West was won at 82-80, 06 NL Central was won at 83-79, 08 NL West just missed the cutoff, as that was won at 84-78, unfortunately 83-79 was just not quite good enough in the NL East this year. David Huzzard of Cits of Natstown wrote an article the other day about a conversation he would have today with himself back in 2009: Washington Nationals MLB Baseball Front Page
Pretty much these were the highlights in 2009: Stras had just been drafted in June, and was a year away from the majors, Harper was a year away from being drafted, we had Manny Acta managing the team (slightly better then Matt Williams) and were chugging along to a second straight 100+loss season, and another season finishing under .500, the 4th time in the 5 years in Washington we had finished with losing records, and the 5th straight year we failed to have a winning record (05 the first year was a breakeven 81-81), so if you had told me back in 2009 on the day we drafted Stras that in 6 years for the 3rd season in a row we would've been one of baseball's most disappointing teams I would've laughed at you until I keeled over dying from laughter, but that's why they play the games. This season was a disappointment but: we still finished 4 games over .500 despite having a complete disaster of a bullpen (which stuck the knife in us one last time for good measure today), a complete idiot as manager, and the second best offensive player compiling like a 2.5 WAR. Harper just missed out on the batting title and 100 RBI's but is probably gonna take home NL MVP, the Strasburg in September finally looks like the Strasburg from 2010 pre TJ surgery, two no hitters, and a breakout from Michael A. Taylor, and Joe Ross. Taylor can definitely play next year, I'm not sure Turner can start every day next year but he can play defense & can run. It'll suck to lose Jordan Zimmermann, but Roark showed today why he should be starting, which he'll probably be going back to next year, and it'll be even worse to lose Desmond, the last remaining link to the franchise from the Montreal Expos days, but I'm willingly to give Turner the opportunity to run with the job. Bring in a power bat to hit behind Harper (either Todd Frazier in a trade, or Chris Davis in FA), sign Heyward so you actually have a leadoff hitter (Rendon shouldn't be leading off), completely revamp the entire bullpen (to start bring in Joaquim Benoit from San Diego, and go from there), bring in Terry Francona (he has an opt out clause in Cleveland since the president left the organization) or Mike Scoscia (team will be brining in a new GM + they greatly underachieved this year so it's possible, even with like $4 or $5 million remaining on his contract he could get fired) as the new manager with Bud Black as the pitching coach (he was the pitching coach for the Angels under Scoscia before becoming manager for SD) and I believe we will have a team that will challenge the Mets for the division next year, hopefully down to the final week and even final days.
Mets had a combined no hitter before Robinson broke it up in the 7th with 2 outs, Curtis Granderson had the lone run via a solo shot in the 8th off of Blake Treinen, and even though Harper doubled with 2 outs in the 9th, Werth flied out to Lagares in CF to end it. Very sad I can't do a preview for the next game , that's the worst part about regular season finales.

Or somehow we can trade Ryan Zimmerman to the Orioles and get Chris Davis. They get paid pretty much the same. Also, Ryan knows that his body isn't what it used to be. If he goes to the O's, they can put him in the DH spot.

That's definitely crazy! There are rumors of Showalter and the upper management in Baltimore who aren't on the same page, so who knows. Ripken at GM sounds like a mistake though. Just because you were a good player doesn't make you a good GM or owner *see Jordan down in Charlotte*. Also, Rizzo completely screwed the pooch this year (hiring Williams, Papelbon trade, cost-cutting the bullpen) but I'm willing to give him another shot, unless Williams doesn't get fired, then he's gotta go as well. And I forgot about O'Day, he's right up there with Benoit in the "must have" category.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joke Insurance

Or somehow we can trade Ryan Zimmerman to the Orioles and get Chris Davis. They get paid pretty much the same. Also, Ryan knows that his body isn't what it used to be. If he goes to the O's, they can put him in the DH spot.

That's definitely not happening. Free agents can't be traded until like May or June of the following season. However, Zim (and even Werth) could be a potential trade candidate for the Orioles if they lose Davis. Hell, maybe a Showalter for Werth trade knowing the Orioles are going to lose Davis.

Nats hire Bud Black as the new manager. Definitely better choice than Dusty Baker who was a close second apparently as Black & Baker were the only 2 invited back for a second interview. Pretty safe hire, and he's a pitching guy, and even with the NL MVP (Harper) this is still going to be a pitching first team. Wasn't very good in San Diego, but they were never terrible either. In the 10 full years he managed I think they won only 90 games once and lost 90 games once, so the other 8 years was between 65-85 win mediocrity with most years in the 70-80 win range. Will be interesting to see how he does on a team that has some offensive threats, and a better pitching staff (overall) then he had in SD.

Nats hire Bud Black as the new manager. Definitely better choice than Dusty Baker who was a close second apparently as Black & Baker were the only 2 invited back for a second interview. Pretty safe hire, and he's a pitching guy, and even with the NL MVP (Harper) this is still going to be a pitching first team. Wasn't very good in San Diego, but they were never terrible either. In the 10 full years he managed I think they won only 90 games once and lost 90 games once, so the other 8 years was between 65-85 win mediocrity with most years in the 70-80 win range. Will be interesting to see how he does on a team that has some offensive threats, and a better pitching staff (overall) then he had in SD.

It will depend on keeping some free agents. If Nats fail to, Black has little to work with.

So, the Nats have ended negotiations with Black (he didn't think the job would pay $2 million for 2 years) so now are going to go back to the second choice Dusty Baker, which honestly is a DOWNGRADE from the guy they fired a month ago! Seriously, Rizzo has made so many errors that I wish he would go. You DO NOT want Baker anywhere near young pitchers, and the most important pitcher of the next 2 years is Strasburg (yes Scherzer has $210 million, but Stras is the key to whether he can still be competitive). Congrats to the Mets on winning the next 10 straight NL East titles!

So, the Nats have ended negotiations with Black (he didn't think the job would pay $2 million for 2 years) so now are going to go back to the second choice Dusty Baker, which honestly is a DOWNGRADE from the guy they fired a month ago! Seriously, Rizzo has made so many errors that I wish he would go. You DO NOT want Baker anywhere near young pitchers, and the most important pitcher of the next 2 years is Strasburg (yes Scherzer has $210 million, but Stras is the key to whether he can still be competitive). Congrats to the Mets on winning the next 10 straight NL East titles!

Not sure about 10 years, but yes I expect NYM to be at least mid 90s win team regularly as odds of 2015 injuries so massive as Mets experienced are remote. So Nats are unlikely, no matter the manager, to touch that. For 162, that depth of staff issue is key, and NYM will have a 5th starter named Zack Wheeler by All Star Game. Unreal. Braves decades back had 3 big guns, not 5! I see 5 NYM guys with far better than NL avg ERA and WHIP.

You DO NOT want Baker anywhere near young pitchers, and the most important pitcher of the next 2 years is Strasburg (yes Scherzer has $210 million, but Stras is the key to whether he can still be competitive).

Ideas form, and gain staying power whether or not they are actually true. That Dusty Baker is a destroyer of young arms because of the way he overuses them, is one of those ideas which seem to have gained acceptance as conventional wisdom.

It is not true. In Baker's ten years managing the Giants, he was especially fortunate in the good health of his starters. There were not any cases of young pitchers who broke down due to overuse.

After his tenure with the Cubs, where Baker was especially unfortunate with the health of two of his pitchers, Dusty managed the Reds from '08 through '13. Among the young pitchers he managed:
08'
Edison Volquz 24 196 innings
Johnny Cueto 22 174 innings

'12
No starters younger than 24...Baker got 200 plus innings from four of his five starters

The pattern in Cincinnati is clear, Baker brought along the younger guys gradually, and when they matured they delivered with 200 plus inning seasons.

In Chicago, Kerry Wood was already 26 years old when Baker took over in '03. Wood's troubles cannot be blamed on Baker overusing him as a youngster. Mark Prior was the one exception in Baker's long career. At the age of 22, in his second season, Prior was allowed 30 starts and pitched 211 innings.

In 2004, 23 year old Carlos Zambrano was allowed 32 starts and pitched 211 innings. But then he did not break down. '04 was the first of five consecutive seasons where Zambrano topped 200 innings.

Baker had two other starters 23 years or younger while with the Cubs, and neither pitched more than 125 innings.

So, the truth of matters is that Baker, in 20 years of managing, has had but the one failure...Mark Prior. Who is to say he would not have gone sore armed if he had pitched 30 innings fewer? This is far from exact science.

So...there are those ideas out there, those bits of conventional wisdom...and then there are the actual facts. Baker is not, nor has he ever been, any special threat to young pitchers.

That said, I would not be very excited about Baker's hiring if I was a Nats fan. Baker is old school, lead by professional example, no interest in metrics or modern strategies. His strength is establishing and maintaining a professional atmosphere, keeping controversy to a minimum, making the players focus on the job at hand.

But don't expect anything brilliant or innovative. He is a conservative in game manager who goes by hunches rather than a true understanding of the odds. You can pretty much predict when he will bunt when he will hit and run, when he will steal, his habits are well set and unlikely to change.

Finally, I would point out that Matt Williams is being replaced by the man who was his manager from 1993 through 1996.

People love to say Baker ruins pitchers, and will point to Wood and Prior as examples. But Wood had arm problems before Baker arrived and Prior was destined to have arm problems due to poor mechanics.

And no one else can point to any other pitchers Baker has negativity impacted since then.

Perception is not reality.

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